Crash Course in Emergency Matchmaking
by justfallapart
Summary: Emily hears something she shouldn't, and it all snowballs from there. Dasey. In-progress. Chapter Six now up!
1. Chapter One: Emily

Title: Crash Course in Emergency Matchmaking

Rating: T

Pairing: Dasey

Summary: Emily hears something she shouldn't, and it all ends up snowballing from there. Dasey. In-progress.

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

* * *

**Prologue:**

_A lot of people end up hearing about the huge blowup between Derek and Sally in the parking lot of Smellie Nellie's, but Emily Davis is the only one to actually witness it. _

_It pretty much snowballs from there._

* * *

**Part One: Emily**

"I just don't know what's going on with Derek," Casey laments as she uses her fork to spear her broccoli. "I really think this breakup with Sally's hit him hard, you know?"

"Mhm," Emily agrees around her large mouthful of food. Emily is currently shoveling her lunch into her mouth like she hasn't eaten for three days, but she's got a good reason for that.

If she's eating, she can't be talking. And if Emily can't talk, then she can't spill out anything that is best left a secret.

Thankfully, Casey's too busy chattering about Derek—which, under the circumstances, is the _definition_ of irony—to really notice.

Emily swallows quickly, wincing, and then quickly takes a gulp of her milk as Casey continues to muse.

"—and I knew they were having problems, but still…and he's been just so _quiet_ lately, and none of us know what to think…I've been trying to get him to open up, but you know what Derek's like—"

Actually, Emily hadn't known. She _thought _she had, just like everyone else here, but apparently none of them had a _clue,_ because Derek—

Okay, so not going there. Otherwise she really will spill out everything, food in her mouth be damned, and then—well, the fallout will just be enormous. It won't just be a single disaster; it'll be a chain-reaction of disasters, each one bigger than the last.

"Em? Are you listening?"

Emily quickly takes another bite of her sandwich and nods fervently. "Mmhm," she assures Casey.

With relief, Emily looks up and notices Sam and Ralph making their way over, lunch trays in hand. Even better, Derek's nowhere in sight, which is excellent, because if he did show up and Emily had to look at him, there would be no way that she could keep her composure.

But no, it's just Ralph and Sam, setting down their lunch trays with a thump on the table and looking at Casey urgently as Sam asks, "Okay, what's the deal with Derek?"

Emily almost chokes on her sandwich.

Casey doesn't even look surprised, she just gestures at Emily and says, "See, Em, I_ told_ you there was something wrong with Derek." Turning back to the guys, who are now sitting down at the table, Casey explains, "I think he's still feeling depressed from the breakup with Sally—"

"Depressed enough to suck at hockey?" Ralph asks skeptically. "Because that's what happening."

Emily lets out a mental groan, and continues to ever-so-slowly chew.

"Really?" Casey asks, and both Sam and Ralph nod.

"Casey, I've never seen Derek play this badly," Sam says, earnest. "We have a huge game coming up in a week and a half, and if Derek's off his game—"

"And that's all you're worried about?" Casey chides. "Clearly, Derek is in a lot of pain—"

Sam waves a hand, impatient. "Look, we know. And we'd want to help anyway. But I'm just saying—if Derek plays badly at the game and we end up losing, just how is that supposed to help him feel better?"

As Casey ponders that, Emily looks down, horrified at her empty tray. She has now officially run out of things to eat. (She knew she should have grabbed that second cupcake.)

But really, who knew keeping your mouth shut about how your best friend's stepbrother is apparently madly in love with said best friend would be so difficult?

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?" Casey's asking the guys now. "You guys don't understand, Derek is absolutely refusing to talk—"

"We know that," Sam says. "Which is why we were hoping you could come up with one of your plans, but this one would be to help Derek feel better."

It takes a heroic effort, but Emily does in fact not blurt out that she knows a way that Casey can make Derek feel better, and all she'd have to do is—

Right, okay, it's officially time for a strategic retreat.

"Well, this was fun," Emily says quickly, grabbing her tray and shooting a smile she hopes is relaxed and friendly, instead of strained and freaked-out, "—but I've got a meeting with the guidance counselor, and I'm running late. Talk to you guys later, okay?"

And with that, Emily flees the cafeteria, before she spills a secret that isn't hers to tell.

God, who knew keeping a secret would be so _difficult?_ And really, it's not like Emily is _proud_ of the fact that she wants to tell so badly. It's true she's always had a thing for gossip, but that feels different from this in a really important way. Most of the stuff Emily chatters about is stuff that most people already know about, or is used in Emily's plans to ensure that she and Casey's reps stay solid.

But this doesn't count as gossip, because nobody knows—well, except for Derek and Sally, and now her. And Emily can't help but think back to that night when she'd stumbled on Derek and Sally, and the _look_ on Derek's face when he'd said—

He'd _meant_ it too, anyone could see that he meant it, and Emily's never seen Derek like that, so intense, but…almost pained too, like it was costing him _so much_ to finally say the words out loud.

Emily's walking the halls in a daze, still caught up in the memory of that night, when she turns a corner and nearly slams into the very guy who started all of this to begin with.

"Derek," Emily half-gasps. "Hey, I…didn't see you there."

"Hey, Em," Derek says, and at first glance, Emily doesn't even know what Casey's talking about. Derek looks the same as he always does, messy hair, leather jacket—

Until she gets a closer look at his eyes, and realizes that no, Casey is right, because there's something…a certain spark, that's missing from Derek's face.

"Are you okay?" Emily asks, hesitant, because clearly he's _not_, and unlike everyone else, Emily's got a pretty good idea of_ why_.

A corner of his mouth lifts up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Look, I've got to get going, I'll see you later, okay?" He skirts around her, walking down the hall, and—

And Emily, not even realizing she's doing it at first, turns around and calls after him, "I'm asking because…I know what happened. Between you and Sally."

Derek stops, but doesn't turn around. Emily is probably even more shocked than he is, because seriously—did she really just _say that?_

Derek turns around at last, and his expression is carefully guarded. "Oh, yeah?" he asks in a voice that could maybe pass for casual to an bystander—thankfully, they don't have those to worry about, since it's lunchtime and everyone's in the cafeteria—but doesn't fool Emily for a moment. "And what exactly do you think happened?"

The smart thing would probably be to apologize and walk away.

But apparently, Emily's been possessed by some crazy talkative spirit, because instead of doing the smart thing, she admits, "Look, that night—I came back to Smelly Nellie's because I'd left my cell phone there, and I saw you and Sally in the parking lot, and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop…but I kind of did anyway, and I heard…I heard what you said."

Oh, God. She really _can't_ keep her mouth shut. Emily's torn between a desire to melt into the floor and an equally strong need to just run, because this is so not a conversation she's prepared to have. Derek's looking at her, completely stunned and Emily's about to apologize again, because really, the guy is having an awful week _already_, and she has to go and put this on him—

But Derek's response, when it finally comes, isn't at all what she expects. "Are you going to tell Casey?"

The lack of a denial almost throws Emily as off as the question itself does. "What? No, Derek—I'd never do that, this is yours—I mean, it's yours to tell, I just thought—I thought you deserved to know that I knew. And…I mean, if you want to talk—"

"I don't," Derek says quickly, shutting her down. "No offense, Emily, but if I wanted to talk to someone about it, it wouldn't be you."

That stings. Emily stares down at her shoes. "Oh."

She hears a sigh, and the shuffling of feet, like Derek's taken a step closer. "I—look, that came out wrong, okay? I'm sorry, it's just…you're Casey's _best friend_. I can't talk to you about this. I can't talk to _anyone_ about it."

Emily looks up at that, and asks, honestly confused, "Why not? Derek, it's obviously a big deal, and you'd feel so much better if you just—"

"What is talking going to accomplish?" Derek asks impatiently. "Talking isn't going to get me what I want. It's not going to bring Sally back, and it definitely won't bring Casey—" He stops talking suddenly, and resumes with an effort, "Talking is not going to do any good. I can handle this, okay?"

It's not okay, but Emily can't think of anything to convince him. "Look, the offer stands, okay?" is her best response, and at least Derek looks somewhat comforted by that.

"Thanks," he says. "And...thanks for not telling Casey."

"No problem," Emily says, and watches Derek leave.

Well...that didn't accomplish much.

Sighing, Emily turns back around to continue making her way to her locker, and she jumps, staring in dismay at an obviously shocked Ralph, who has clearly heard everything.

"Dude," he says. "Dude, what _was_ that?"

"Ralph? What are you doing lurking around like this?"

He blinks twice and holds up her bookbag. "You left this at the table and I promised Casey I'd give it to you. She wanted to do it, but she was too busy talking about Derek with Sam and—and did I just hear with I think I heard?"

"No!" Emily says too quickly, and then messes everything up with asking, "Why, what do you think you heard?"

Ralph's eyebrows are currently in danger of disappearing into his hairline, they're raised so high. "Uh, I'm pretty sure I heard Derek say that the reason he and Sally broke up was because of Derek's feelings for Casey."

"...Oh," Emily replies, her voice faint. "Well, that's not what you heard."

He stares at her for a moment longer, then shakes his head and starts to walk off. "Okay, I need to think about this. This is huge."

Emily watches him leave for a moment, and then chases him down. "Wait, wait, Ralph—you _can't_ say anything. To anyone."

Ralph stares at her like she's grown a third eye. "But if I can't talk about it with anyone, then how am I supposed to come up with a plan to help Derek?"

* * *

**Interlude: The Breakup**

_Emily knows that Smelly Nellie's is supposed to be closed by now, but she's hoping that either Derek or Sally or somebody is still there, because she's pretty sure she left her new cell phone at her table earlier tonight, and she can't be expected to survive without her cell phone. Just can't be done._

_She bikes all the way there, and skids into the parking lot to see Derek and Sally standing in front of the door. Emily breathes a side of relief and hops off her bike, setting it on its kickstand, and takes a step forward--_

_"We're seriously going to fight about this?" Derek snaps out loudly, and Emily stops dead. _

_Oh boy._

"_We wouldn't need to fight if you would just admit the truth," Sally snaps right back, and Emily takes a step back towards her bike. "Just admit it! Admit that it's her you really want, just so I know I'm not going crazy—"_

_Emily can't really see Sally's face from this angle, but she can see Derek's—and right now, he looks like he's about to lose it._

"_Oh, you're definitely crazy," Derek says, in a harsh tone she's never heard him use, not even on Casey or Edwin or anyone. "But you really want to hear me say it? Fine." He holds out his arms, and drops the bomb. _

"_I want Casey. I'm crazy about her—I've _been_ crazy about her ever since our parents got married."_

_Emily's frozen to the spot. _

_Derek drops his arms, and the expression on his face isn't anger or frustration anymore—it's despair. "There. I said it. Do you feel better now? Because I sure as hell don't."_

_There's a long pause, which gives Emily time to wonder if she shouldn't just get out of there, except she's afraid that if she moves, they'll spot her—except she's already out in the open, it's just that they've been so caught up they haven't looked over and seen her—_

_And then Sally speaks. "Yeah. At least now I know the truth."_

_She walks away, and Emily watches as Derek doesn't chase after her, just rubs his face with his hands and lets out a long sigh as he goes back into the restaurant. _

_Leaving Emily alone to silently hyperventilate about what she's just heard._

TBC...

* * *


	2. Chapter Two: Ralph, Paul, and Sam

A/N: First, thank to everyone who reviewed--the feedback is MUCH appreciated, believe me! Hope you enjoy this next part.

**Part Two: Ralph**

"Dude, this is totally going to work!" Ralph insists, and it is. It is an awesome plan, the most awesome plan Ralph's come up since, well, ever—and if it works, which it totally should, then all their problems are going to be solved.

Emily's looking pretty annoyed, though. "Okay, first—stop calling me dude. Second, I cannot believe you're seriously talking about getting Derek and Casey together. Third, as if that wasn't crazy enough—you want to accomplish this in a _week_? Have you lost your mind?"

Okay, when she puts it like that the plan sounds less awesome. Still—it is so doable, especially if Emily agrees to pitch in.

Which she will. Eventually. If Ralph can convince her. And he's having a little trouble with that at the moment.

"Seriously, this'll totally work!" Ralph says, getting up off the chair and pacing. Emily's room is actually pretty cool—it's nice and big, and has plenty of room for Ralph to walk around, which is nice. He comes up with his best ideas when he's moving, anyway. "Look, the reason Derek's upset is because he's crazy about Casey and he thinks that he can't have her, right?"

"Right," Emily says, and hey, she's with him so far.

"Right!" Ralph says, pointing a finger at her and grinning. And then he starts pacing again. "And trying to talk to him about it directly won't work—"

"Why not?" Emily asks.

Ralph blinks. Okay, maybe she's not with him. "You saw how he was with you—if we confront him, he's just going to go into uber-denial and his game's going to get even worse."

"But—if you talked to him—"

Ralph's shaking his head before Emily even finishes her sentence. "No way. Look, if Derek was going to tell me, he would have done it by now. And the fact that he hasn't means that this is a really big deal and that Casey—"

"—means a lot to him," Emily finishes, looking stunned. "Wow, I just—every time I think about it, my brain wants to explode."

"Really?" Ralph asks in curiosity. "Cause the more I think about it, the more sense it makes."

Emily's eyes get huge. So big that Ralph wonders for a second if it's possible for them to be stuck like that. "You're kidding."

Ralph shakes his head. "Nah, not really. I figure Derek could use someone like Casey—she's the only girl I know who stands up to him on a regular basis."

Emily opens her mouth, but shuts it again. Finally, she says slowly, like she can't even believe she's saying this, "Okay, that _might_ be true—" and Ralph grins, "—but you don't even know how Casey feels about this! What if she doesn't feel the same way?"

Ralph winces. That's the one part of his plan that might need some smoothing over. "Well, that's where we come in."

Emily's eyes go even wider—and wow, he so didn't think that was possible. "Ralph, have you lost your mind? You want to get Casey to stop thinking of Derek as her annoying stepbrother who always has it out for her, and get her to see him as a potential boyfriend? It can't be done!"

"It so can," Ralph says. "Look, if Derek really does care about Casey the way we think he does, then trying to get him over her won't work, and it's not like we can set him up with anyone else, because that clearly won't work either—he's too into Casey to look at another girl."

"Plus, it wouldn't be fair to whoever we're setting him up with," Emily admits with a sigh. "Okay, but—"

"And I really think Casey would be good for him," Ralph says, and he does. He can't really explain why, but the _idea_ of them--"They're like my grandpa Eli and my grandma Ruth," Ralph explains, getting excited. Because they are, they totally are, and he can't believe he didn't put it together.

Emily's forehead wrinkles. "What?"

"My grandparents...they fight like crazy, but they've been married for like, half a century," Ralph says. "Derek and Casey are just like them, I swear."

"Ralph," Emily says, "I'm sure Derek and Casey are just like your grandparents, but right now, I'm telling you that getting Casey to think of Derek as anything but an annoying stepbrother will be impossible."

Ralph says, "Yeah, but—a few days ago we both would have said that Derek admitting he liked Casey was impossible, and look at where we are now."

Emily's mouth opens and shuts. At last she mutters, "...okay, you might be right about that too. But Ralph, even if we could bring around Casey, and even if we could get them together, which are two _huge_ ifs...according to your timeline, we'd need to get this done in less than two weeks if the hockey team's going to win."

Ralph frowns, because she's right. And if this doesn't work--although it totally _should_--but if it _doesn't_ and they lose... "If we lose that game, Derek's gonna flip and he'll be impossible to deal with."

"So," Emily says, coaxing, "--maybe a quicker response is to just pull Derek out of his funk."

"How?" Ralph asks. "Emily, you don't know how bad it is. We've tried everything...trips to the movies, hanging out, trying to get him to hit on other girls, and he doesn't want any of it! Not even the girls, which let me tell you, is just plain weird. I almost thought he'd been replaced by a pod person who can't play hockey and can barely skate. Even Coach has tried to give him a pep talk, and Coach never does that."

Emily blinks. "Well, what does your coach usually do when one of you guys doesn't play well?"

Ralph shrugs. "Yell at us until we stop screwing up."

Emily's eyebrow goes up. "And that _works_?"

"You haven't heard Coach yell," Ralph explains. "If you did, you wouldn't need to answer."

Emily frowns, but like in a thoughtful sort of way. "Okay, so you guys can't get him to open up, your coach won't help, and Derek won't talk to me...you know, I bet the reason Derek's so upset is because he can't really talk to anyone. Like, he feels trapped, because he's going through all this stuff and there's nobody he can turn to."

"He could turn to me and Sam," Ralph insists, feeling oddly hurt.

Emily gives him a quick smile. "He could, but Ralph...Derek's not the sort of guy who likes making himself vulnerable. Can you really imagine Derek having a heart-to-heart with anyone?"

"Okay, so what do we do to fix that?"

"I bet that if Derek could actually let his feelings out, find an outlet with someone he feels comfortable with..." Emily says, getting off her bed and starting to pace. Ralph starts to smile as he watches her...he's glad Emily's finally getting into this, because this is exactly what Ralph needs her for, to analyze all this emotional stuff, because Ralph is crap at it.

"...someone who can't tell Casey, or anyone..." Emily trails off, and after a moment, snaps her fingers. "Oh my God, Paul!"

"What?"

"Paul Creepy, the school guidance counselor," Emily explains. "Casey goes to him all the time about her problems...he's perfect, since he can't actually tell anyone what students tell him, and he's actually qualified and knows what he's doing--"

"So while we work on getting Derek and Casey together, he can start fixing Derek!" Ralph finishes, holding up his hand. "Awesome!"

Emily blinks again, giving him an odd look, but finally gives him a high-five. "Hang on a second, Ralph. Exactly how are we supposed to get Derek to even see Paul?"

There are moments--not a lot, but moments where a bright, shining idea just pops into Ralph's head like a giant invisible somebody with an giant invisible hand just put them there. This is totally one of those times. "I have the perfect idea," Ralph says, grinning widely at Emily, and after a second, she starts smiling back.

* * *

**Part Three: Paul**

To say that Paul is surprised to see Emily Davis and Ralph Cohen in his office, together, is an understatement. Seperately wouldn't be so odd, but together at the same time, and at their request--Paul's left racking his mind for what could be tying them together.

"So, what brings you two here to see me?" A thought occurs to Paul, and he asks without thinking, concerned, "It's not about Casey, is it?"

"No," Ralph says, but at the same time, Emily says, "Yes."

Paul blinks as the two look at each other.

"No and yes," Emily explains with a smile. "What we mean, it's about Derek and Casey."

"But mostly Derek," Ralph adds. "At least for now."

Paul's nonplussed, but doesn't let himself show it. "Okay. Well...why don't you tell me what's going on, and I'll see if there's anything I can do to help."

Ralph beams and looks ready to plunge in, but Emily holds up a hand. "Just...just to be sure, you can't tell Casey anything we've told you, right?"

"That's right," Paul assures them. "As long as what you tell me isn't something that could put you or someone else in danger, it stays confidential."

Ralph snorts. "No problem there. The only thing in danger now is the hockey season--"

Emily gives him a look. "You know, I'm starting to think that's all you care about," she says snippily.

Ralph looks astonished. "No way! Hey, I'd be doing the exact same thing I am now--trying to help my bro--it's just that right now, we have a deadline."

"A deadline for what?" Paul asks, bringing his coffee mug to his mouth.

Ralph turns to him and says cheerfully, "Oh, we have a week and a half to get Derek and Casey together."

Paul stares at him, and then ever-so-slowly sets his mug right back down. Ralph can't honestly be saying what Paul thought he just said. "Get Derek and Casey together...for what?" he tentatively asks.

Next to Ralph, Emily lets out a long sigh. "Ralph, you weren't supposed to blurt it out like that." She turns back to Paul. "Look, it's a long story--"

"Not really," Ralph counters, and says, "Mr. Paul, Derek and Sally broke up because Derek's got feelings for Casey, and Derek's been in this wicked bad mood ever since, and now he sucks at hockey because he's in such a rotten mood, and we have this really important game coming up, so we need to get Derek out of his bad mood so that he'll start playing better, and the only way to do that is if we get Derek and Casey together."

There's a small beat, and then Emily adds delicately, "As a couple."

They look at him and wait.

Paul takes a deep breath and then repeats, haltingly, "Derek...has feelings for Casey...that he's _admitted_ to? Out _loud_?"

"Yeah, I heard him say it," Emily assures him.

"Oh, I _so knew it_," Paul murmurs in triumph, and it's not until he sees Ralph's delighted face, and Emily's astonished one, that he realizes he actually said that out loud. "Uh, can we forget I said that?" he winces, waving his hands, but Ralph's already clapping his hands together in glee.

"Dude, you're already with us!" he crows, and turns in his seat to face Emily. "Hey, Em, this was the best idea ever, coming to him. He's already on our side, and we didn't even know it!"

Emily, however, is staring at him, open-mouthed. "Wait, you--did _Casey_ say something?"

Paul waves his hands. "No, no, please--Casey, she has no--what I mean is, I came to that conclusion from what she's described of their interactions. It...seemed like the most obvious explanation for Derek's behavior, and well--Occam's Razor and all that."

"Occam's what now?" Ralph asks, his forehead furrowing.

Paul obligingly opens his mouth to explain, but Emily--who's still apparently reeling from his thoughtless slip of the tongue--interrupts. "Seriously? It was that obvious to you? Because I'm around them all the time, and I had no idea."

"I didn't either," Ralph admits. "I mean, it makes total sense now that I know, but I so didn't know anything before."

"Look, guys--I'm trained to analyze behavior and see the underlying causes," Paul assures them. "You guys were probably just too close to the situation, which is complicated by the fact that Casey and Derek are stepsiblings, and a good deal of Derek's behavior towards Casey can be shielded by that excuse." Paul takes a second and frowns, "Wait, and now that you guys know...you want to get them together?"

Twin nods, and Paul leans back slowly in his chair. "Oh boy," he says. "Guys--I hate to discourage you here, but if you're looking for my help with this, I can't--"

"No, no," Emily assures him, and then admits, "Well, not like that anyway." She explains in more detail Derek's malaise ever since the night of his breakup, and suggests that since he's a trained counselor, he might be able to, well...counsel.

"Plus, you can't talk to anybody," Ralph adds. "We figure Derek'll appreciate that."

"And that way, if our plan doesn't work--"

"Although it totally will," Ralph begins, but is interrupted by Emily.

"--which it might not," here she gives him a firm look, "--at least Derek's talking about it to somebody."

Paul sits back and considers it. "Well...I mean, if you guys can get Derek in here, of course I'll give him whatever counseling he needs. There are a couple of issues, however."

Both Ralph and Emily look apprehensively, and Paul holds up his hands. "First, whatever Derek tells me is absolutely and completely confidential...even from you two. Don't come to me looking for tips. Second--exactly how are you planning to get Derek to come see me?"

Ralph grins widely. "Peer pressure."

* * *

**Part Four: Sam**

It's not until Sam actually shows up to the top-secret hockey meeting in the locker room that he starts to get really curious.

Oh, he was curious before that, when Ralph caught up to him in the hallway earlier and told him that they needed to meet an hour before hockey practice to deal with The Derek Problem.

And yeah, it's officially gotten so bad that Sam's started thinking of it like that, in all capitals, because Derek is...well, he's not _Derek_ anymore. He's quiet, he won't talk to anybody, not even Sam, and it's like every speck of talent the guy had on a pair of skates has just disappeared.

So honestly, Sam's not surprised that they're meeting up to talk about it. What he is surprised at is to see Emily there, standing next to Ralph and looking kinda nervous.

Although given that Coach is also there, and is glaring like he's ready to crack some heads open, Sam can't really blame her. Emily's not used to Coach the way they all are, and she probably doesn't know that he's pretty much like that all the time. It's like a glare is his default expression, and after a while, you don't even notice. Much.

But that still begs the question--what is Emily even doing here?

Sam shoots Ralph a look, like _dude, what's going on? _But Ralph just waves him over, and starts explaining. "Hey, guys. Look, I don't want to be the guy who talks behind another guy's back, because that's totally not my style, but seriously, we need to fix Derek."

"Tell me something I don't know, Cohen," Coach barks, and Emily jumps slightly.

"Right, and we figured--if we can't help him, maybe we should send Derek to an expert."

"Like the school guidance counselor," Emily adds quickly, and Coach is frowning, but thoughtfully.

Sam's frowning too, but for an entirely different reason. "And how are we supposed to get Derek in to see the guidance counselor? 'Cause there's no way he's going by himself."

"That's where we come in," Ralph says. "If we nudge him in the right direction, and point out that the entire season's at stake--"

"Which it is," Coach interjects.

"--then Derek'll go for the sake of the team. He's a good captain, he won't let us down."

There's a half-second while they all think about it, and then Coach claps his hands together. "Cohen, this is the best idea I've heard from you all year." And with Coach approvingl, it's not like Sam can disagree--but he's got this strange nagging feeling that something is up, especially since when they're all walking away, he swears he hears Ralph saying something like, "Phase one is a success! High-five!"

He shoots a glance over his shoulder, but Emily and Ralph are walking away like there's nothing going on. Although they are walking awfully fast, and Emily's got what looks like a death-grip on Ralph's arm.

The thing is, Ralph's plan does sound like a good idea, but Sam's not entirely sure it can work--Derek can barely admit that he has feelings to begin with, what's going to happen when they ask him to talk about them?

But Ralph's right after all--and maybe this is proof of how bad Derek's gotten, because when Sam, Ralph, and Coach pull him aside, he doesn't even put up a fight.

"You guys want me to get therapy from the school guidance counselor?" Derek asks, looking at them warily. And this is where Sam knows Ralph's idea is solid--the old Derek would have thrown a fit at the suggestion, not this...mild dismay, like they're just asking him to eat broccoli.

"D, I'm just saying that we're all counting on you," Sam says, and it's true, but seeing Derek so downcast has him feeling guilty already. "It's obvious you're feeling down, and to be honest--your game hasn't been so great lately."

Coach mercifully comes in, which is a relief. "Look, kid--you're a good player, and a good captain," Coach says gruffly. "But lately, any talent you've ever shown seems to have gone the way of the dodo, and I can't have it. And I'm telling you, Venturi, you need to work out your issues with somebody. If you won't turn to me or your teammates, then for the team's sake, I'm saying go talk to the counselor before we drag you down there ourselves."

With that, it's pretty much settled, and Derek doesn't even argue when Ralph tells him he's already scheduled an appointment for him tomorrow morning. Sam shoots Ralph another look at this, because he can't shake the feeling that there's more to the story.

But Sam doesn't officially know anything's up with Ralph until after hockey practice, when he's coming out of the locker room and seeing Ralph in a corner with Emily.

And in retrospect, Sam's not sure why he hangs back and listens to their conversation. But he does, and it's a really good thing too.

"Phase one has been successfully completed," Ralph's crowing. "I'm telling you, man, it worked like a charm. What about you, how are you going to find out where Casey's head's at?"

Emily reaches into her purse and pulls out a DVD case. "With this."

"Ah, excellent," Ralph says, nodding in agreement. "So we're going with _Clueless_ instead of _Cruel Intentions_ then?"

Emily laughs. "Ralph, trust me, _Cruel Intentions_ is so not where we want Casey's mind to go with this. And _Clueless _is perfect, because Josh and Cher are so much like Derek and Casey, it's a total head-trip. Casey's bound to reveal the truth after seeing it."

As Sam watches, completely confused, Ralph throws an arm around Emily as they walk to the front doors. "You know, this whole matchmaking scheme is pretty easy," he says, and Emily laughs again.

"Don't get too cocky, Ralph. We haven't even started yet..."

They walk off, and Sam stares after them in bewilderment. _Matchmaking?_ Say what? And what the hell is watching a movie supposed to accomplish? And what does any of this have to do with getting Derek to see the guidance counselor?

It's not until Sam gets home and looks up the movie _Clueless_ on Wikipedia that he gets his answer. He reads the plot synopsis over once, then goes through it again to make sure he's got it straight and isn't actually hallucinating, and then his jaw drops.

What. The hell.

TBC...


	3. Chapter Three: Emily, Sam, and Paul

**Part Five: Emily**

It is almost ridiculously easy to talk Casey into watching the movie. Emily's done her research, and when she drops that Clueless is a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, and that it could be interesting to see how that holds up to the original, Casey's all over it.

Watching the movie again, Emily's thrown once more by how similar it all feels. Okay, so it's set in Southern California during the 90's, and on the surface, Casey's got more similarities with Josh than with Cher, and vice versa for Derek. But still. Emily keeps seeing bits of all of them in this movie, Casey, Derek, even herself.

She's watching Casey as much as she's watching the movie herself, and for a while, Casey's enjoying herself, laughing at the jokes, and smiling throughout most of the scenes...until it becomes clear that Josh, Cher's stepbrother is a stand-in for Mr. Knightley. Emily's never read Jane Austen, and she's not starting now, but the power of SparkNotes should never be underestimated.

Once the fact that Josh equals Mr. Knightley becomes clear, Casey gets very quiet. And at the very end, when Cher and Josh share a romantic and sweet kiss, Emily swears she actually hears Casey _squeak_.

Once the credits start to roll, Casey immediately grabs the remote and turns the DVD off.

Emily clears her throat. "So. What'd you think?"

Casey looks like she's a heartbeat away from hyperventilating. "What, but they--that's nothing like the book _at all!"_

"I told you, modern adaptation," Emily says, but Casey's clearly not listening.

"But that's just _not how it works_--you don't suddenly start looking at a guy who's basically been _family_ for years and say, 'Ooh, I want to date him!' That is just _not_ how it goes, it's totally unrealistic!"

On the surface, it looks like Casey's totally disproving Ralph's theory. That is, Ralph's theory _would_ be totally disproven...if only Casey wasn't so defensive. And if she wasn't shrieking.

Almost unable to believe the conclusions she's coming to, Emily clears her throat. "Well, I think they made it clear in the movie that Cher--like Emma--was really in denial. She'd taken her feelings for granted for so long that it took a huge push to make her see the truth." Emily holds her breath and waits.

Casey's mouth falls open for a second, and then she protests, "But they're _family_!"

Thankfully, Emily already came prepared. Sparknotes is such a blessing sometimes. "Yeah, and Emma always believed she thought of Mr. Knightley as a brother. And in Mansfield Park, Fanny grew up with Edmund, who was her cousin, and she ended up marrying him. These things aren't always so clear-cut, Case."

Casey folds her arms, and says firmly, "That was a different time, Emily." She then loses her cool and yells again, "And besides--to suggest that feelings can turn on a dime like that is _completely_--"

It goes on like that for a while. Finally, Emily sends Casey back off to her house, still as stunned as ever, but thankfully less prone to yelling about taboos and unrealistic character development.

It's not until the door closes behind Casey that Emily lets herself burst out into giggles.

Because wow--Ralph _was_ right. Ralph was completely dead-on and she was wrong--even if admitting it stings a little. Casey wouldn't--there's just no way Casey wouldn't be that vehement unless the movie had struck a nerve somehow, and now Emily--

Now Emily's going over every time she's been around Derek and Casey, wondering if that fight or this argument or the rare times when Derek stood up for Casey or vice-versa were really—

Holy crap, this is insane. Completely insane. What has she gotten herself into?

The only thing Emily knows is that she can't back away now. This is her best friend and Derek—well, she might not be one of Derek's best friends, but she's known the guy most of her life and she does still care about him. Plus…it's almost her duty to help set things right here, as a responsible human being.

Emily rushes for the phone and runs through her lengthy list of contacts until she spots Ralph's name.

Hitting 'call', Emily breathlessly waits until she hears Ralph's voice.

"Ralph, it's Emily—no, no we just watched the movie, and Casey totally freaked out, but in a good way! It totally hit a nerve, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but you were so dead-on, Casey's feelings for Derek are so much more complex than we originally thought, that's the only way to explain her reaction—"

Ralph cuts in, "Em, that's great, but we've got a problem."

Emily's mouth falls open in dismay. "Why, what—oh my God, don't tell me Derek's already got another replacement girlfriend. Did he not learn anything from Sally? Wait, wait, don't tell me he's back with Sally—"

"No, no," Ralph quickly says. "No way, man—that'd just be nuts. Look, Em—I don't know how, but Sam found out about our plan, and he's kinda pissed off…"

* * *

**Part Six: Sam**

The next morning, Sam's waiting by the front door, foot tapping, waiting for Ralph and Emily to pick him up. He's got a few things to say, and the sooner he says them, the better.

Sam still doesn't know what the hell Ralph was even thinking—he knows that Ralph's got the best of intentions, but seriously? _Seriously?_

Finally, he spots Emily's station wagon coming into the cul-de-sac, and grabs his bookbag and exits the house.

He barely waits before he's gotten into the backseat before snapping out, "Dude, what the hell? You _told_? We have a code about this, man!"

"What code?" Emily immediately asks, but Sam's on a roll.

"Don't ask, don't tell! We don't ask, Derek doesn't tell, and let me tell you, it has been working perfectly until now, because you had to open your mouth and _tell_, and not only that, you told Emily!"

"Hey!" Emily protests, but Sam doesn't even care.

"Look, Ralph—rule number one is that we don't get involved with Derek and Casey. _Ever._ This is our code, and we have to stick to it, alright?"

Ralph is just staring at Sam like he's got vegetables growing out of his ears. "Dude," Ralph says at last, sounding stunned. "I have no idea what you're talking about, and anyway, I didn't even tell Emily anything. I overheard her and Derek talking, so technically, Emily's the one who spilled the beans."

Emily turns her outraged look to Ralph. "I did not—it's not my fault I heard Derek and Sally talking that night, and it's definitely not my fault that you were eavesdropping, and hang on a second—" here she turns back around in her seat to face Sam, "—how do you know about Derek and Casey?"

Ralph looks like he's been hit by a thunderbolt, and Sam's starting to get a bit nervous. This is not how this was supposed to go. "Yeah, since when do you know about Derek and Casey? And for how long, and what the hell kind of code are you talking about?"

Sam's jaw drops. He can't help it, it's as if someone's just proven the sky isn't blue, or as if someone's just told him that hockey's been banned throughout Canada. "Dude…I've known ever since Casey and I broke up, but that doesn't even matter, we…we have a code, we don't talk about this…right? Ralph, _please_ tell me you knew about our code."

He's starting to get an idea that is not a very good idea at all, because this idea means—and if he's right then—

"Dude," Ralph insists, "—there is no code that I know of that applies to this."

Sam flaps his arms helplessly. Holy crap, this is a disaster. How could Ralph possibly not—"Dude! Don't ask, don't tell! We all know about this, this has been working for everyone for the past year, how can you not know!"

"I don't know a lot of things!" Ralph shoots back. "I didn't know about Derek and Casey until a few days ago, and I didn't know about this code until you came in here and started yelling at me about it! Seriously, man—what are you even_ talking_ about?"

Sam groans and puts his head in his hands.

It's impossible. Somehow, through some kind of weird Ralph-logic, Ralph's been sticking to a code he didn't even know about for the past year, and now he's broken that same code, and he didn't even know he was breaking it.

This is insane.

"Sam," Emily urgently says, "—could you maybe start explaining to us what the hell's going on? Because I can promise you, neither of us have any idea what you've been talking about."

Sam lifts his head and starts to explain something he never thought he'd have to explain—this was their unspoken thing, the thing everyone knew and didn't talk about. "Look—we've all known about Derek and Casey for a while now—"

Emily holds up a hand. "Back up. When you say 'we', you're referring to…"

"The hockey team," Sam says, still amazed that he actually has to _explain_ this. To Emily and Ralph, of all people—out of anybody, they should already know this stuff! Although, judging from the looks on their faces, they really didn't.

Emily's mouth has fallen open. "As in…the entire hockey team?"

"Dude," Ralph says slowly, looking equally shocked.

Feeling just as stunned—they seriously didn't know?—Sam babbles, "We've all known for a while now, we just decided that it'd be better to let Derek handle it, and seriously—how could you guys not know?"

"Because nobody ever told me anything!" Ralph protests.

Emily throws her hands up. "Because it's the most insane thing ever—look, if I hadn't actually heard Derek admit to Sally that he had feelings for Casey, I never would have believed it!"

"But it's totally obvious!" Sam insists, throwing his hands up as well. This is _completely and totally insane_. "He's been completely fixated on her ever since she moved here! He tried to beat me up for liking her! How could you guys _not see it_? We all saw it!"

Emily looks like she's about to hyperventilate, and honestly—Sam's pretty much right with her there. Ralph, on the other hand, is starting to grin. "Dude," he says at last. "Dude, this is perfect! First Mr. Paul, and then you? With you in the mix, this is going to make things so much easier—"

"What things?" Sam asks warily. He's not entirely sure why he's got the sudden urge to just run far, far away, but it's an urge he really wants to listen to for some reason.

Ralph just beams innocently. "Dude, we're trying to get Derek and Casey together for the good of the team, and for Derek of course."

"And Casey," Emily puts in. "We have to think about Casey in all this too."

"Right," Ralph says, "—and now that you're in, this is going to be so much more awesome!"

In sixteen years of living, Sam has never once felt the urge to pass out from shock. Until now.

Holy _freaking crap._

* * *

**Part Eight: Paul**

Paul has to admit that if this is part of Emily and Ralph's plan—which it looks like it is—then their plan is working perfectly. He's almost impressed by their ingenuity…instead of directly asking Casey about her feelings for Derek and getting the requisite denial—they're forcing Casey to realize her feelings herself.

True, they're doing this through the means of a teen romantic comedy from the mid-nineties, but whatever works.

"I just don't even know what to think, Paul," Casey says pleadingly from her seat. "I mean, this movie is completely ridiculous—but I would have to be blind not to see the parallels here. Although if you ask me, I have a great deal more in common with Josh than I do with Cher, at least when it comes to my focus on my studies and on the greater concerns of the planet in general."

"Right," Paul says neutrally.

"But…I mean, things don't really work like that. Not everybody is in a fog of denial regarding their feelings for family members. Can you imagine the implications if every sibling or step-sibling secretly harbored…those sort of feelings? Society would fall apart!"

"Mmm," Paul murmurs, and decides to ask at last, "Casey—why is this movie bothering you so much? I mean, if you think this movie is ridiculous and that the premise of two stepsiblings finding love together is inherently flawed—then why think about it?"

Casey falls silent, and stares at her hands for a long, long moment. Paul watches silently in sympathy.

He's always liked Casey, is the thing. She can be frustrating and occasionally thoughtless, but she's a genuinely sweet kid, and unlike a lot of her peers—or even a lot of adults, for that matter—she's got the courage to face the truth when it's pointed out to her, and do something productive about it. Paul has to admire that strength.

He's hoping that characteristic will come in handy now—because if his ideas are right, Casey's going to need that more than ever.

"Because," Casey says at last. "Because—even if the movie is ridiculous, which it is—Derek and I—we're a lot like Josh and Cher. And…if Josh and Cher were secretly in love all that time, then…" She trails off, and looks at Paul, pleading. "I'm wrong, right? Paul, just tell me I'm over-analyzing this and that my imagination's gotten carried away."

Paul hesitates as well. There are a lot of things that Paul can't tell Casey—aside from the whole confidentiality-issue preventing him from telling her about the little plans her friends have in store—Paul knows his role is to guide kids into facing facts themselves, instead of laying it out for them.

So Paul just says, "Casey—you're a smart kid. Just take some time, think things over—calmly—and try to relax. You'll figure this out. Real life isn't always like the movies, but sometimes, seeing things from a different perspective can help us realize things we haven't fully realized ourselves."

Casey's shoulders slump. "Isn't that really just a nicer way of saying, 'Sorry, Casey, but you're on your own'?"

Paul smiles at her. "No. That's a nicer way of saying, Casey, you probably already know all the answers to your questions already."

Casey takes a slow, deep breath, and then finally nods. "Okay," she says in a small voice. "I…need to get to class now."

Paul nods back. "Okay. And Casey—seriously, things will work out. I promise."

She nods in return, and walks out.

Leaving Paul with two thoughts to mull over.

One—Ralph and Emily's plan, insane though it might be—might have a real shot at working out, God help them.

And God help him, because he's got a scheduled appointment with Derek Venturi later today, and if _Casey_ can be occasionally frustrating—Paul doesn't even want to _think _about what working with Derek will be like.

TBC...


	4. Chapter Four: Emily and Paul

Author's note: Guys, I am so sorry about this part taking so long! Hope you enjoy, and the next part should be up soon.

* * *

**Part Nine: Emily**

"I can't believe this," Emily says for the fifth time at lunch. "I mean, I just can't believe this. They couldn't have been that obvious, could they?" She takes a quick gulp of her milk and continues, gesturing with the carton in her hand. "If Derek was that obvious, I totally would have noticed."

"But you didn't," Ralph points out, and Emily smacks him lightly on the arm. "Hey, I didn't notice either. Look, this is a good thing," he insists, smiling. "More people to help, the better."

Emily winces at the thought. "Ralph, I don't know about this. Don't you think bringing more people in is just going to make things messier? I mean, the more people that know, the bigger the chances are that Derek and Casey are going to find out, and believe me, we do not want that."

Ralph shakes his head, eyes wide. "No, dude—Derek will_ freak_ if he hears about this. I'm talking a freakout of epic proportions."

"Bigger than Casey's freakouts?" Emily has to ask. These days, it would take a meltdown the size of Mount Everest to impress Emily. Being the best friend of Casey McDonald tends to do that to a person.

"So much bigger," Ralph promises. But then he grins, spreading out his arms. "But, hey—it's not like we don't know the guys can't keep a secret. They've been keeping this quiet for ages now!"

"And I still can't believe it," Emily mutters. "Look, okay—but what do we do now? We've got Casey stirred up over that movie, and Derek's seeing Paul today, but we can't count on that alone—"

"Can't count on what?" Casey says, appearing out of nowhere and setting her lunch tray down.

Emily quickly nudges Ralph to be quiet and says, "Oh…I was just saying we can't count on Mr. Krueger being in a good mood when he grades our tests—I mean, you look up the word moody in the dictionary, and you'll find a picture of that guy."

Casey nods and spears her broccoli with a fork. Ralph mouths to Emily, _nice save, dude._

Strangely enough, Casey's a little quiet during the entire lunch period. She's not saying much, she's keeping her head down and eyes on her plate, except for when she looks up every once in a while to look at a corner of the cafeteria—

Emily follows Casey's gaze the third time this happens, and sees that Casey's looking over at the table where Derek is sitting with Sam. Emily quickly catches Ralph's eye to indicate what's happening, and Ralph is trying very hard to hold back his usual grin of delight.

She turns back to Casey, who hasn't noticed a thing, and clears her throat. "Everything all right, Case?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, fine." Given the violent way she's still stabbing that poor broccoli with her fork, Emily would have to disagree.

Ralph prods a little further. "Hey, is Derek doing any better at home?"

Casey shakes her head. "No, not at all. Actually, he's—he's acting really weird, for Derek."

"Weird?" Emily asks innocently. "How so?"

Casey shakes her head, exasperated. "He's totally avoiding all of us. Even me! He doesn't make jokes, he doesn't tease me or Edwin or try to pull any pranks—last night, I made this huge fall down the staircase, and Derek didn't make one joke the whole night!"

Ralph gapes at her. "He didn't even call you Klutzilla?"

"Nope," Casey says grimly, and Ralph shakes his head, dismayed.

"Whoa," he says. "This is even worse than I thought."

"I know!" Casey says, nodding firmly. "I knew he cared about Sally, but I had no idea this could hit him so hard—I didn't think anything could hit Derek this hard. And it's not like I haven't tried to help him. I've tried to get him to talk to me, I've tried not to let him work me into starting a fight—I even let him watch whatever he wants on TV every night—without arguing about it!" She turns to Emily. "Em, the only thing I've seen on TV for the past week is a bunch of guys trying to beat each other up—either with hockey sticks or with their fists while they wear tight pants."

"No go, huh?" Emily asks, sympathetic.

"No," Casey says. "And it's weird, because—" she stops for a second, then admits, "It sounds crazy, but it almost feels like he's avoiding me in particular, you know?" Casey shakes her head quickly. "Which is totally fine, but—it's just weird. Derek lives to make my life miserable, and—well, like I said. This breakup's really hit him hard."

The thing is, Casey's actually not that bad an actress—there's a reason she got the lead in a musical. But underneath her nonchalant air—Emily knows that Casey is confused by Derek's behavior, and more importantly, she's hurt by it.

"But isn't that what you want?" Emily points out gently. "A Derek that doesn't tease you or prank you or fight with you—"

"A girl gets used to the status quo," Casey insists loftily, then deflates. "Plus, to be honest—it kind of feels like I'm living with a pod person."

Soon enough, the warning bell rings, and Ralph, Emily, and Casey start getting up so they can dump their trays. As they make their way through the aisles, Casey admits, "Don't tell anyone I said this…but Em, I think I'm actually starting to miss the original Derek."

"I know what you mean," Emily says quietly, glancing at Derek as she does. And just as she does, Emily sees Derek look up, and shoot Casey this intense look of—of—

A look just like the one Josh would always give Cher when he thought she wasn't looking. And to see that, to see that longing on the face of _Derek Venturi_—it's enough to take her breath away. But soon enough, Derek's looking away from Casey again, and Emily's biting her lip before she starts squealing in front of the entire cafeteria.

Right after Casey says her goodbyes and makes her way off to her advanced English class, Emily turns to Ralph. "Okay," she says firmly. "We have got to get those two together. Forget about the hockey season, we're doing this for their own good. Whatever plan you've got cooked up, I'm with you all the way."

Ralph gives Emily her biggest grin yet, and pumps his arms up in the air in the universal victory sigh. "This is going to be awesome," he promises, and Emily has to smile. Funny thing is—she's starting to believe him.

* * *

**Part Ten: Paul**

Derek Venturi is going to be the death of him.

It's approaching fifteen minutes into their session, and Derek has so far, denied his need for counseling a whopping eleven times. They haven't even approached any topics of importance—such as the breakup with Sally, the hockey game, or Casey.

To be honest, and this is something Paul never saw himself admitting—working with Casey is starting to look like a cakewalk compared to what Derek's got in store for him. For all Casey's quirks—she's actually pretty cooperative. But with this kid…getting him to admit his feelings is going to be like trying to pull _teeth_.

"Well, Derek, you're obviously here for a reason—"

"I'm here to get everyone off my back," Derek says, folding his arms in a classic defensive pose. His entire attitude right now is practically screaming 'I'm going to do my best to convince you there's nothing you can say to shake me up.'

Well—they'll see about that. Paul leans back in his seat and says mildly. "I see. So you think your friends and teammates and family members are all idiots, then?"

Derek blinks. "I didn't say that."

"Well, you implied it. You're saying that even though they're all convinced there's something going on with you, something big enough that coming here to talk to me is necessary—they're all extremely wrong, and you're doing just fine. Well, I've got to say, Derek, either your friends and family are all suffering from a major lapse of judgment or…you're suffering from a massive amount of denial."

Derek doesn't actually respond, but his face gets even tenser—if that's possible.

Paul waits a moment, then says more gently, "Derek…would it help if I assured you that no matter what, I cannot reveal what you tell me in here? I've had people confess…anything and everything you can think of to me in this office, and unless I think that someone's in danger—I can't breathe a word of it to anyone."

There's _something_—a slight crack in the poker face, and Derek asks, after a long moment, "You can't say anything?"

Paul shakes his head. "No. And for what it's worth—I think you'll find it's very hard to shock me."

A corner of Derek's mouth lifts. "Yeah, I doubt that."

Paul opens his arms wide. "So try me."

Derek looks him over for a long moment, but doesn't say anything. Paul tries another tack.

"Alright, let's try it like this. Why don't I tell you what I know is going on, and we can work from there?" He starts ticking them off on his fingers. "Your friends tell me that you seem distracted, unlike your usual self, and that your hockey performance has suffered lately. They say you seem unhappy and withdrawn. And they all say this started after you broke up with your girlfriend. Have I got that right?"

Another long pause, but this time—it seems as though Derek's fighting with himself. As last, the words coming out in sharp jerks, "It's not—not that simple."

"No?" Paul asks.

Derek shakes his head vehemently. "No, it's—you're making it sound like I'm in a bad mood just because Sally and I broke up, and I know everyone thinks that's what's going on, but they're _wrong_." Derek's eyes drop to the floor as he mutters, "You have no idea how wrong they are."

"Okay, so why don't you set me right then?"

Derek looks up, and there's a challenge on his face. "You said I couldn't shock you."

"I said you'd find it rather difficult to do so, yes."

"Okay, how's this for shocking?" Derek asks, lifting his chin. "I have the hots for my stepsister. You know, the super-keener who comes into your office every day whining about her latest drama? The girl whose mom married my dad?"

Paul makes sure he keeps his voice and facial expression under control, and yet the odd thought flits through his mind—somewhere in this school, Ralph Cohen and Emily Davis are doing a gleeful victory dance, and they don't even know why. "Okay, how long have you felt this way?"

Derek gapes at him. "How long—dude, didn't you hear me?"

Paul lets himself smile gently. "Oh, I heard you. And I'm curious—how long have you felt this way towards Casey."

Derek seems to have moved from open shock at Paul's blasé reaction to open suspicion. "Since the day I met her, pretty much. You're not freaked out."

"Under the circumstances, Derek," Paul says, "I find your feelings to be quite natural."

Derek seems to almost choke for a second. "_Natural_?" he manages.

"Casey's a very attractive young girl, and the two of you have been thrown into very close quarters—"

"Yeah, because we're _family_!" Derek bursts out. "She's around all the time because we're supposed to be _siblings_, because I'm supposed to look at her and think of them the same way I do of Marti or Edwin or even Lizzie—and instead, all I want to do is kiss her until neither of us can think straight!"

"Derek—" Paul begins, holding up a hand. It's like trying to stop the flow of Niagara Falls with a paper towel—in other words, there's no point. Paul's seen this happen before, numerous times—the act of finally confessing has seemed to unlock a dam in Derek, and everything begins to pour out. How at that first meeting with the McDonalds, it took everything he had not to openly drool over his soon-to-be new stepsister, how he wants to stay away from her and spend as much time with her as possible, all at the same time. How tired he is of hiding, of watching her "date losers who aren't good enough for her—and I don't mean Sam, he's my best friend, although they were totally wrong for each other, let me tell you—but _Max_? Max was a _jerk_ who never deserved her…"

It goes on like that for a while, and finally Paul manages to get in--

"And yet, despite these obviously strong feelings you have for Casey, you continue to date other girls. Why is that?"

Derek shifts uncomfortably. "Because I'm not a monk." At Paul's raised eyebrow, he bursts out, "Dude, I don't know, I need to be distracted sometimes, okay? And I've got a reputation I need to hold up. If I don't flirt or date anybody—people'll start asking questions."

"Doesn't seem very fair to those other girls," Paul says mildly.

Derek looks gloomy. "Yeah," he says finally. "You're starting to sound like Sally."

"Sally said that to you?" Paul asks. Ah, here they go.

"Yeah, that and a lot more," Derek says, seeming to steel himself. He settles back in the chair and admits, after a long moment, "Sally was—I mean, nobody ever figured it out, you know? How I feel about Casey—no one's ever called me on it before, but Sally, she—she knew, somehow. She could tell, even if she couldn't prove anything." Derek gestures helplessly with one hand. "So she'd…she'd come up with these tests, to prove how much I liked her. I'd have to write her a song to show how I felt about her, or help with my little sister's party just because she said so."

"And did you do those things?" Paul asks.

Derek nods, staring off into space. "Yeah, I did. I wanted—I did like her, honestly. She's pretty and smart and a lot of fun to be around, most of the time. And I don't know, there was a part of me that thought…"

"Thought what?" Paul prods, when it looks like Derek's not going to finish that sentence.

Derek sighs heavily. "A part of me thought…if I couldn't make things work with this girl, if I couldn't get over Casey when I was dating someone like Sally…then I couldn't get over her at all." Derek blinks after a long moment, and shakes his head. "Man, I've got to say…saying all of this stuff out loud is just…weird."

"It's important, though," Paul assures him. "The fact that you're finally getting all of this out, that's a good thing, Derek."

"Yeah? Because I have to say, Paul—I'm not feeling any better about the situation right now," Derek points out.

Paul smiles gently and is about to respond—but then there's the bell, and they're officially out of time. And Paul can't stretch this out, he's got another student coming in right after this—not Casey, thank God—but they just can't continue with this today.

It's a shame.

"We've just started working through all of this, Derek," he says. "You can't expect miracles within a day."

"Too bad," Derek says, standing up and slinging his backpack over one shoulder. " 'Cause I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that can help me now."

Paul's eyes narrow for a moment. "How so?"

That faint, sarcastic half-smile again. "Because Sally and I—she couldn't take it anymore, I guess, knowing how I felt about Casey and—we had a huge blowup in the parking lot at the place where we both work, right? And she asked me straight out about Casey—and I admitted it. Stupid move, but—it felt like I had to, you know? I spend so much time denying it, and here someone was, finally asking me for the truth right to my face. I couldn't lie."

"So you admitted it to Sally," Paul says, and Derek nods.

"Yeah. But that's not the problem. The problem is that somebody else heard me."

Paul's eyebrow goes up. "Oh? Who?"

Derek shakes his head. "Emily Davis. As in, Casey's best friend and one of the biggest gossips in school. She promised that she wouldn't tell, but—it's only a matter of time before she does. And then I'm totally screwed."

TBC...


	5. Chapter Five: Emily and Sam

Author's note: I'm so sorry this took so long!

**Part Eleven: Sam**

"Look, guys—what the hell is going on?" Jordan Michaels asks urgently, looking from Ralph to Sam. "We all know you guys are up to something, and it's about Derek—"

Sam glances at Ralph, and then says ruefully, "Dude, trust me, you really do not want to know."

Jordan folds his arms. "No way, man, we're all in this together. If Derek's not scoring goals, then that means I've got that many more goals to block. Besides, we're bros, we're teammates—and our captain's in trouble. So if Ralph's plan is about Derek, I'm just saying—we want in."

Sam opens his mouth to protest—the more people that are involved in this, the messier it'll get—but he happens to glance at Ralph first, and his stomach drops.

That's Ralph's plotting face. Sam's been seeing it a lot lately.

"Alright," Ralph says. "Tell the rest of the team to meet in the locker room after school today. Around 4:30."

Jordan nods, but asks, "Okay, so—what is this about?"

Ralph glances at Sam, whose mouth is gaping open, leans in and says in a conspiratorial whisper, "It's about that thing we're supposed to never talk about."

Jordan's eyes widen in shock. "You mean—"

Ralph nods sagely, and Sam would protest, only he's too busy gaping like a fish. As Jordan walks off, still stunned, Sam splutters, "Dude. You're going to bring in the entire team? Are you nuts?"

But Ralph just smiles serenely. "Dude. Not like we couldn't use the help. Besides, it'll work out, you'll see." As Ralph walks away, actually whistling as he does so, Sam resists the urge to start banging his head against his locker.

"Um, Sam?"

Sam whirls around, and there's Casey, looking at him curiously. "Are you all right?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam said quickly. "I'm totally good, what's up?"

"Actually—that's what I was about to ask you," Casey responds, biting her lip. "Sam, I know I've already asked you this, but do you have any idea what's going on with Derek?"

Forget having an idea, Sam _knows_ what's going on with Derek, and it all has to do with the girl standing in front of him. And the thing is—Casey's his friend and former girlfriend, and Derek's his best friend, and Sam has never once wanted to get involved in this crazy thing between them. Not once. The whole situation was just too _weird_—Derek's his best friend, Casey's his ex-girlfriend, Derek and Casey are stepsiblings, and Sam is positive that Derek's wanted Casey since the moment she moved to town. Sam's also convinced that trying to mess with that whacked-out dynamic is the equivalent of poking a sleeping bear with a big stick. Sure you can do it, but when that bear rips you to shreds, you have no one to blame except yourself.

Not that Derek's a bear. Or Casey either. It's just that while Derek might be his best friend, and Casey one of his good friends, Sam's not afraid to admit that they do scare him a little sometimes with how intense they can get. And if there's anything Derek will get intense about—it's Casey. And vice versa.

There's no way Sam's getting involved with that. Except thanks to Ralph, he _is_, and he hates it.

So Sam shakes his head. "Got me. Nobody has any idea what's going on with Derek." Casey looks so disappointed at this, that Sam almost wants to tell her, almost wants to explain—but he can't.

"Has—he hasn't said anything about me, has he?" Casey asks awkwardly. "I mean, he's been avoiding me lately and—I was just wondering."

Sam shakes his head. "No, sorry. He hasn't been saying much about anything."

Casey nods twice, and finally smiles. "Okay. Well, I've got to get going, I'll see you later." She turns to walk away, and turns back again. "Sam? You'll tell me if you find anything out?"

Sam nods and lies, "Yeah, absolutely."

**Part Twelve: Emily**

"Man, are you sure we can talk about this?" Jordan asks again.

"Dude," Ralph says patiently for the third time since this meeting started, "—we all know about it. It's not like talking about it can make the situation any worse than it already is, right?"

Sam snorts at that, and mutters to himself, "You wanna bet?" Emily stifles a giggle of her own. As she looks around at the hockey team, she can't help but feel a little embarrassed—she's in a room filled with people who figured out what was going on with Derek and Casey ages before she had a clue.

Out of sheer curiosity, Emily calls out, "Okay, I have to ask—does anybody have any issues with Derek having a thing for Casey?"

Everyone's staring at her now, and finally one of the guys—Alex Whitfield—says at last, "Are you kidding? Derek's the team captain. We do not judge our captain. Plus, she's hot. Can't blame the guy for noticing."

Emily, nonplussed, has to admit, "Okay, good point."

Ralph clears his throat, taking everyone's attention off Emily for the moment. "Okay, guys, we've completed Phase One of our plan, but we need to go on to Phase Two. If we're going to win the game, we've got to fix Derek's broken heart and get Casey to fall in love with him." A general murmur of agreement is the response to this, and Ralph grins at everyone, before turning back to Emily. "And since she's the resident expert on romance and girls—and Casey too—Emily here is going to help us out."

Emily's mouth falls open in surprise. "What? Wait, wait—Ralph, this is _your_ plan, I'm just here to help out, I'm not—"

"Emily, come on," Ralph says persuasively. "You're a girl, and you're Casey's best friend. You're perfect for this."

There's a flaw in Ralph's logic, and if Casey were here, she'd be able to point it out, but Emily's too taken aback to try and find it. With everyone staring at her, she tries desperately to think of what to say, and finally admits, "Well—I don't think it's _impossible_ for Derek and Casey to get together, but if we're going to have any chance of this working, we really need to get Casey to see Derek in a different light than she does now. And that is not going to be easy."

"Why not?" another guy asks, raising his hand as if he's in class.

Emily shrugs. "Well for one thing, Casey's in massive denial. For another, it's not like Casey's ever thought of Derek as boyfriend material—to her, he's still the annoying stepbrother who lives to torment her."

At this, the team starts groaning in indignation—and Emily doesn't know whether to be charmed by their loyalty to Derek or bewildered by their total lack of perception. "Guys, how many pranks and jokes have you seen Derek pull at her expense?" she asks, and that shuts them all up in a hurry. Gratified by the silence, she continues. "Besides, Derek's track record with girls isn't the best either. It doesn't matter if _we_ think Derek's perfect for Casey, unless _Casey_ thinks the same thing, all the plans in the world aren't going to do a bit of good."

Everyone is silent for a long moment, until Ralph nods and says, slowly starting to grin as he does, "So, all we need to do is get Casey to see that Derek's the perfect guy for her." His smile gets even wider. "Not a problem."

Everyone's nodding along with Ralph now, and saying how this'll be a piece of cake, and if this is all they needed to do, then they should have tried it months ago. Emily just stares at them all, and then looks at Sam, who looks as astounded as she feels.

Just what has she gotten herself into?

**Part Thirteen: Sam **

Sam has always tended to think of himself as a pretty even-tempered guy. But if something doesn't give within the next three seconds, he's going to strangle somebody at this lunch table. Not Emily, who's staring at the guys with as much horror as he is, and not Casey either, who's looking more and more bewildered by the second, and who can blame her?

No, if Sam's going to kill anyone at this table, it'll be Jordan Michaels, Alex Whitfield, and Tommy Warner, his teammates that are apparently have decided that it'd be fun to drive them all absolutely _insane._

"Derek brags about you all the time," Tommy says eagerly.

"Oh, he so does."

"Totally."

"It's all Casey said this, and Casey did that, and Casey's the smartest girl in school," Tommy goes on. "He's really proud of you."

Casey stares at them and says flatly, "_Derek _said that?" Identical nods from the Three Stooges, and Casey turns to Emily and asks urgently, "Em, you can tell me, am I on _Punk'd_? Have I fallen into some alternate reality?"

"I wish," Sam groans, and takes a bite out of his sandwich to stop himself from saying anything more.

"Ha ha," Jordan laughs. "Casey, you're hilarious—which makes sense, because that's what Derek said about you too. He said that you were hilarious."

"A laugh riot," Alex chimes in.

Sam's another second away from banging his head on the tabletop when a sudden reprieve comes in the form of Noel Covington, who shows up out of nowhere and sits next to Casey. "Hey, Case, what's going on?"

Thank God, the guys fall silent at Noel's appearance. Casey smiles, no doubt in relief that this bizarre conversation might actually be over, and she and Noel start chatting about some class they're both in together.

For a few minutes, Sam thinks it'll be all right—until he realizes that Jordan, Alex and Tommy are all glaring at Noel like he's the captain of an opposing team who managed to kick their asses in a championship game, or if he'd just declared to the world that hockey's the stupidest game on the planet.

Oh, for _crying out loud_—Casey's oblivious to this, thankfully, but Noel isn't, and keeps shooting concerned looks at the guys, no doubt wondering what the hell it is he did to piss these guys off. The answer of course, is nothing—other than being single and having a conversation with Casey while the guys are trying to convince her that Derek's the only guy for her.

After five minutes of this, Sam can't take much more—and neither can Noel, who's starting to twitch now, the guys are glaring at him so hard—and Sam manages to excuse himself and get the guys away from the lunch table and poor Noel.

"Guys," he hisses once they're out of hearing range, "—back off, would you? You're about to give everything away!"

"Dude," Jordan hisses back, just as heated, "—who is that punk who's putting the moves on Casey? He's about to screw up everything!"

"For the record," Alex says ominously, "I am totally up for taking him out if we need to. We can have a little conversation with him, set things straight."

"There is _nothing going on_ with Noel and Casey," Sam says frantically. "They're just friends!"

"Hah!" Tommy scoffs. "He's so putting the moves on Derek's girl."

"She's not Derek's girl—"

"Well, she will be!" Jordan insists. "If that guy doesn't screw things up, she will—Sam, we're talking about our captain and the fate of our hockey season here! We can't afford—"

"We can't afford to give everything away," Sam shoots back. "The only people who are putting the hockey season in danger at the moment are you guys—if you keep glaring at Noel, Casey's going to get suspicious, and if she figures things out too soon, then we're all screwed!"

After five more minutes of a muted, yet heated argument, Sam manages  to settle the guys down, although Jordan ominously promised to "keep an eye on Covington". At last, he makes his way to the table, and Casey and Noel have left, thank God.

"They went to the library to look something up," Emily explains.

"Just for the record, is anything going on with them? Sam asks wearily.

Emily looks floored. "What? No way—he and Casey are so platonic. Besides, he's got a crush on one of the girls from the drama club—he's already been asking Casey for help there."

Sam slumps in relief. "Good. Do me a favor and tell the team that, would you? Before they put a hit out on him?" He shakes his head. "I can't believe people actually do this matchmaking stuff for a living."

"Maybe it's easier if you're actually getting paid for it," Emily says doubtfully. "And if you're not having to deal with people like Derek and Casey."

That is quite possibly the smartest thing Sam's heard someone say all day.


	6. Chapter Six: Derek, Ralph, and Emily

_Author's note: I am so sorry about the long wait for this chapter. But hopefully, given everything that happens, you guys'll think it was worth the wait. _

**Part Fourteen: Derek**

"Derek, what's going on?"

Derek takes a half-beat before pasting a who-cares smirk on his face. The fact that he has to take that half-second is a pretty good indication that his head's still a little screwed up, especially when it comes to--

"Derek," Casey says firmly, stopping him mid-stride with a hand at his shoulder. "What is going on?"

"Other than the fact that I've got you following me around?" Derek shoots back. "Not much."

Casey looks exasperated. "Very funny. Look, what's the deal with your teammates?"

"Huh?" Derek asks, genuinely confused. He thought this was another Casey-ambush where she tried to get him to open up and talk about his _feelings_ or some ridiculous crap like that.

"Your teammates, you know, the guys you play hockey with?" Casey says impatiently. "Look, earlier at lunch, they sat down with me and Emily and started praising you like you were some kind of celebrity or god--"

"I am," Derek says. "You just can't see it."

"And then they start talking about how often you talk about _me_--"

"Wait, like how you annoy the crap out of me? Yeah, I might have mentioned that once or twice."

Casey just smirks. "Actually, you apparently think the _world_ of me. You think I'm smart and funny and pretty and _so_ much fun to be around--"

"I _what_?"

Casey scoffs. "Yeah, I knew you'd never say that, but that doesn't explain why they were saying that you did."

Derek waves a hand in confusion. "Okay, back up. Who was telling you this again?"

"Alex, Jordan, and Tommy," Casey says. "So, what was that about anyway? Was it part of some kind of prank you were trying to pull or something?"

"Or something," Derek says distractedly, trying to figure out what's going on.

Casey looks confused, but nods, and then says slowly, "You know…this is the longest conversation we've had in a while."

Derek glances at her, but says nothing.

Casey looks a little nervous and says at last, "I mean--ever since you and Sally broke up, you've been--well, you've been avoiding me, and I just wondered if--"

"Yeah, okay, we're done talking," Derek says hastily, and walks quickly away before she can say anything more.

Derek takes one look back, and finds Casey still standing in the middle of the hallway, watching him. He's too far away by this point to be sure, but her shoulders look a little slumped.

Derek quickly looks away, and refuses to think about it anymore.

*

It sticks with him though, is the thing. There's just no reason for the guys to even be talking to Casey--they've never shown any interest in her before, so why would they start now? Admittedly that's partially because Derek had make it clear that he would not be happy to see any of his teammates showing an interest in Casey, but that doesn't change the fact that the guys have no reason to talk to Casey, much less spin her lies about how he's been talking about her. Derek doesn't talk about Casey to anyone, especially now; it's how he keeps from going crazy.

But--now that Derek's thinking about it, now that he's focusing on something other than the desperate need not to focus on Sally and Casey and the mess he's landed in, he's remembering details from the last week or so. Like how all the guys have been really--cautious around him lately. How Ralph keeps giving him these weird looks, how any conversation he has with Sam lately is all stilted, like there are all these things that he and Sam are tiptoeing around.

And now the guys are talking to Casey--talking to Casey about how much Derek talks about Casey, how often he supposedly compliments her when her back's turned--but why? Because they want--

The only reason for that would be if they wanted Casey to see Derek in a new light, a better light. As if they want Casey to think that Derek's--that he--

Derek reviews everything once more, and then again just to be sure, and then he groans to himself and goes to find Emily.

*

"Who did you tell?" Derek demands.

"No one!" Emily insists. "Derek, I didn't tell anyone, I swear--"

"Yeah, and that's why the guys on my team are trying to get Casey to think that I--" Derek stops, and then starts again, more grimly this time. "Emily, who did you tell?"

"I didn't tell anyone anything, Derek!" Emily insists once again, and he has to admit that she sounds completely sincere here. "I don't--I don't have any idea why the guys were doing that earlier," she adds, and here's when her eyes flicker away from his face.

Derek looks at her for a long moment, and then says slowly, "You didn't tell them--but they still know, don't they?"

Emily just looks at him, stricken and doesn't say a word.

Derek's stomach has dropped somewhere in the vicinity of his shoes, and he can't breathe for a moment. "Oh my God," he croaks out.

"Derek, it's not what you think--they already knew, and we all just wanted to _help_, I promise--"

"Oh my_ God_," Derek repeats again, more loudly this time as the magnitude of this disaster starts to sink in. "They already--who else knows?"

Emily's eyes have grown to the size of dinner plates. "Um," she says articulately.

If Derek was the type of wimp who fainted or passed out or any of that crap, he'd be doing it right now. _Jesus_.

**Part Fifteen: Ralph.**

Okay, so there might have been a small flaw or two in Ralph's big plan. See, the plan was for Derek to find out after he'd gotten the happily-ever-after with Casey, so that when Ralph finally came clean about his plotting and stuff, Derek wouldn't care, because hey--the plot had _worked_.

Except the plot hasn't worked just yet, and Derek isn't with Casey yet, and he found out anyway and right now, Derek is really, really not happy about any of it.

"I can't believe you guys!" Derek yells for what has to be the fifth time, and the entire team, Ralph included, cringes. "You guys have been sneaking around behind my_ back_, messing with my brain--getting me to see a shrink, talking to _Casey_--"

Ralph chances a quick look at Sam to see if he's got any ideas, but Sam's got his face buried in his hands, so there's not much hope there. And right now the rest of the team is scared stiff, so it's up to Ralph to try and fix all this. "Look, D," he begins as calmly as he can, "--we were just trying to help--"

"Maybe I don't want your help, did you ever think of that?" Derek snaps right back, still furious. "Maybe I don't want you guys interfering in my life!"

"So what, you'd rather just be miserable?" Ralph has to ask, ignoring the urgent elbow nudges from Sam. "You'd rather be miserable than ask for help from your best friends this one time--"

Derek still looks mad--in fact, he looks madder than ever, but under that, there's something in his face--it's this sadness, like Derek can't even hear what Ralph's trying to tell him. "Look, there is just no way that I'm getting what I want. The faster I accept that, the better, and all I need is for you to _stay out of it_."

Ralph honestly can't believe what he's just heard, and there's no way he's going to let it stand.

He gets up off the bench and says, still unable to believe he actually has to say this part out loud, "Dude. You're _Derek Venturi_. Since _when_ do you give up when there's something out there that you really want? This isn't some ordinary thing either, this is _Casey_, the girl you've been crazy about since who knows how long, and you're just going to give up without even trying to fight for it?" Ralph shakes his head. "If that's really all you're going to do, then--I'm sorry, Derek, but maybe you _deserve_ to be miserable."

The silence after Ralph finishes is maybe the loudest thing Ralph's ever heard.

Derek just stares at him for what feels like forever, and then walks out of the locker room without saying a word.

Jordan's the first to break the silence. "Okay, was that part of the plan and I just didn't know about it?" he asks.

Ralph blinks twice, and says, half to himself, "Okay, so maybe the plan wasn't as awesome as I thought."

Then he runs after Derek, calling out his name, Sam right behind him.

**Part Sixteen: Emily**

Casey's standing by the Prince, looking irritated and checking her watch. When she sees Emily walking towards her, she calls out, "Em, have you seen Derek?"

"Uh," Emily begins, but Casey goes on talking without hearing her.

"Ugh, this is so like him. He's supposed to drop me off at home before his hockey practice today, and I need to get home and get started on the mounds of homework I've got, and _he's_ got the keys so it's not like I can go and leave him here stranded, like he deserves, and he's not even picking up his phone, the _jerk_--"

"Casey!" Emily bursts out at last, unable to take it anymore. Casey stops mid-rant, and looks at her, a little bewildered.

"What--Emily, is everything all right?"

"No," Emily says, because it isn't, because Derek's face when he figured out the truth was just awful to see, because this plan was insane and she doesn't know how she got sucked into it, because in the end, all she's done is probably make things worse. "Look, it's about Derek."

Casey's eyes grow wide with growing panic. "Is he all right? Is he hurt? Where is he?"

"No, no--Case, it's nothing like that, it's just--" Emily stops to take a breath. "Look, I know what's going on with him. I've known for a while now, and I never told you because I promised I wouldn't say anything, because I thought things would just get worse if I did, but--" She looks up at her best friend, and finishes, "But I honestly can't picture things getting any worse than this, and everything else I've tried has already gone wrong, so--so I'm just going to say it, and hope it's the right thing to do."

Casey's staring at her now, eyes still wide, still looking alarmed. "Em," she says, her voice serious, "--what is going _on_?"

Emily opens her mouth to finally just say it, to say this big thing she's been hiding for so long, but then Casey's eyes shift away from her face and she's looking behind her, and Emily turns to see what she's looking at, and that's when her mouth falls open.

Because it's Derek, making his way through the parking lot, striding towards them like he's on some kind of mission, and now Ralph and Sam are coming out of the school, and what is going on, Emily has no clue.

Derek's walking right towards them, his face determined, and as he starts to get closer, Emily nervously begins, "Derek, I am so sorry--"

Derek doesn't acknowledge her, he doesn't even look at her--his eyes are fixed on Casey, and he keeps moving forward, and about a half-second before it happens is when Emily realizes what he's going to do.

"Oh my God," Emily says faintly.

Casey, poor Casey who doesn't have _any _clue what's going on, asks, bewildered, 'Derek, what is--"

She stops talking abruptly, and the reason for that is because Derek's taken her face in his hands and is kissing her. On the mouth. It's this incredibly romantic, incredibly _passionate_ kiss, the kind you see in the movies, and it's happening right in front of Emily and she can't even _move_, she's so stunned, and just what exactly _happened_ in that locker room?

Finally--finally!--Derek and Casey pull apart, Derek still cradling Casey's face in his hands. He says in a tone that indicates he's just as stunned as Emily feels, which is pretty stunned, "I wasn't planning on doing that."

Casey just nods faintly. Derek lets go of her and takes one step back, and then another.

"I have to go to practice now," Derek says, still talking in that dazed voice.

Casey nods again, and says in a faint, faint voice, "I'll get a ride with Emily."

"Okay," Derek says, and walks off.

Casey slumps against the car, looking like she could be knocked off her feet with a feather, and Emily feels about the same.

As Derek's walking past Ralph and Sam, Emily could swear she hears Derek snap out at them, "Not a _word_ about this."

And that's when a second revelation comes crashing down on Emily's head, and she starts to wonder if maybe she should sit down, because all this excitement can't possibly be good for her.

What with all the shock of seeing Derek and Casey kiss, of seeing Derek declare his feelings for Casey in such a manner right in front of her--Emily somehow managed to miss the most important part.

Casey had kissed Derek back.


End file.
